Impact of Active Video Games on Body Mass Index in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Evaluating the Quality of Primary Studies

Abstract

Objective: To study the impact of active video games on Body Mass Index (BMI) in children and adolescents. Design and Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Data were pooled in meta-analysis using the method of random effects or fixed effects, as appropriate, after examination of statistical heterogeneity. Data sources and eligibility criteria for selecting studies. A comprehensive literature research was conducted in Medline (PubMed), ISI web of Knowledge, and SCOPUS up to April 2018, in relation to clinical trials (both controlled and non-controlled) in children and adolescents, whose intervention was based on active video games. Results: The overall intragroup effect of the intervention based on active video games was in favor of the intervention, reaching statistical significance using the fixed effects model: (standardized mean difference (SMD) = −0.138; 95% CI (−0.237 to −0.038), p = 0.007 and was of borderline statistical significance in the random effects model: SMD= −0.191; 95% CI (−0.386 to 0.003), p = 0.053. The individual results of the determinations of the 15 included studies for this analysis showed a high heterogeneity among them (I2 = 82.91%). When the intervention was applied to children and adolescents with greater than or equal to 85 (overweight or obese) BMI percentile showed a greater effect in favor of the active video games: SMD= −0.483, p = 0.012. The overall intra-group effect in the control group was close to zero (SMD = 0.087). With respect to the non-standardized mean difference (MD) between groups, it was also in favor of active video games for both BMI (Kg/m2): DM = −0.317, 95% CI (−0.442 to −0.193), p = < 0.001 and BMI z-score: DM = −0.077, 95% CI (−0.139 to −0.016), p = 0.013. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis show a statistically significant effect in favor of using active video games on BMI in children and adolescents. The clinical relevance of this positive effect must be evaluated.